A practical guide to choosing between high-speed steel and carbide tooling based on your application, machine, and budget.
| Property | HSS | Carbide |
|---|---|---|
| Hardness | 62–65 HRC | 89–93 HRA |
| Max Cutting Temp | ~1,100°F | ~1,800°F |
| Typical SFM (Steel) | 60–100 | 300–600 |
| Toughness | Excellent | Moderate |
| Cost per Tool | $5–30 | $15–100+ |
| Regrindable | Yes, easily | Yes, but specialized |
| Best For | Manual machines, interrupted cuts, tight budgets | CNC, production, hard materials |
Manual machines: HSS is more forgiving of speed/feed variations and chatter common in manual operation. The toughness of HSS handles interrupted cuts and inconsistent feeds without catastrophic failure.
Low-volume work: When you're making 1–5 parts and tool life isn't critical, the lower upfront cost of HSS makes economic sense.
Tapping: HSS and cobalt taps remain the standard for most tapping operations, especially in manual or older CNC machines without rigid tapping capability.
Sawing and bandsawing: HSS bi-metal blades are still the go-to for band saws in most shops.
CNC production: The speed advantage (3–5× faster) makes carbide pay for itself quickly in production. Cycle time savings usually dwarf the tool cost difference.
Hard materials: Anything above ~30 HRC practically requires carbide. Hardened steels, Inconel, and titanium are carbide territory.
Surface finish: Higher speeds with carbide generally produce better surface finishes, reducing secondary operations.
Consistency: Carbide maintains its edge longer, meaning less tool change intervention and more predictable results across a production run.
TiN (Titanium Nitride): Gold color. Good general-purpose coating. Increases tool life 2–3× in steels. Works on both HSS and carbide.
TiAlN (Titanium Aluminum Nitride): Dark purple/black. Excellent for high-heat applications and dry machining. Best on carbide.
AlTiN: Higher aluminum content than TiAlN. Better for very high-speed and hardened material machining.
ZrN (Zirconium Nitride): Gold. Excellent for non-ferrous metals, especially aluminum. Reduces built-up edge.
Most modern CNC shops should default to carbide for end mills and turning inserts, keeping HSS for taps, reamers, and manual machine work. The per-part cost is almost always lower with carbide when you factor in cycle time — even if the upfront tool cost is higher.